films_tv_shows_and_wildlifefandomcom-20200216-history
The Peanuts Movie
The Peanuts Movie, also known as Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie, is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip'' Peanuts''. The film is directed by Steve Martino and written by Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, and Cornelius Uliano, and features the voices of Noah Schnapp and Bill Melendez (via archival recordings). This is the fifth full-length feature film to be based on the comic, and the first feature film based on the characters in 35 years. It commemorates the 65th anniversary of the comic strip and 50th anniversary of the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, and was released on November 6, 2015. The film sees Charlie Brown trying to get the Little Red-Haired. Plot Perennial loser Charlie Brown has grown frustrated with the fact that, despite his best efforts, every endeavor he attempts (e.g., kite flying, baseball) ends in disaster. When the Little Red-Haired Girl moves into the house across the street from his in the middle of winter, however, Charlie Brown resolves to finally turn his fortunes around. Taking the advice of his "psychiatrist", Lucy, he decides to make himself appear more confident. With the help of his beagle, Snoopy, Charlie Brown prepares a magic act for the school talent show that he hopes will impress the Little Red-Haired Girl. Unfortunately, his sister Sally's act is met with derision from the student body, and Charlie Brown is forced to sacrifice his allotted time to help her salvage her performance. Undeterred, Charlie Brown (with Snoopy's assistance) teaches himself to dance in order to win the dance competition at the winter dance so he can dance with the Little Red-Haired Girl, whom he has discovered excels at dancing. His performance goes surprisingly well until he slips on a puddle of spilled punch and ends up setting off the gymnasium's sprinkler system, causing the other students to flee the gymnasium before the dance is finished. Charlie Brown's fortunes appear to be turning around, however, as he is assigned to partner with the Little Red-Haired Girl on a book report project. When he learns that she will be missing several days of school as she visits her sick grandmother, Charlie Brown resolves to write the entire report himself. Against Marcie's advice, Charlie Brown elects to write his report on War and Peace. Meanwhile, the students' scores on the state standardized test are posted and, to everyone's surprise, Charlie Brown has become the first student in school history to earn a perfect score, leading to an assembly being held in his honor. Brimming with newfound confidence, Charlie Brown completes the book report just before the assembly. However, upon being presented with his test at his award ceremony, Charlie Brown is horrified to discover that the test is not his, but is, in fact, Peppermint Patty's; having forgotten to write their names on their tests earlier in the film, Charlie Brown and Patty (who had simply drawn a smiley face and filled in random answers on her test) had inadvertently written their names on each other's answer sheets. Dejected, Charlie Brown admits to the student body that the perfect score was not his. Things become even worse when his book report is accidentally destroyed and Charlie Brown is forced to tell the Little Red-Haired Girl that he has failed them. When spring arrives, Charlie Brown encounters a younger boy in the park who is struggling to fly a kite. He reluctantly offers the boy assistance and, to his own astonishment, the boy is successful. On the last day of school, the students are asked to choose pen pals to write to over the summer. Charlie Brown is dumbfounded when the Little Red-Haired Girl chooses him and assumes that she only selected him out of pity when no one else picked him. After voicing his concerns to Linus, Charlie Brown realizes that he needs to do what he has avoided the entire film and talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl face-to-face. Racing to her house, he discovers that she is about to leave on the bus for summer camp. His attempt to reach the school to intercept her are thwarted by the presence of a carnival which slows him down. Realizing that his situation is hopeless, Charlie Brown finds a kite fall to his feet from the infamous Kite-Eating Tree. The kite string becomes entangled around his legs, causing the kite to pull Charlie Brown to the school; the other students, amazed to see Charlie Brown finally succeeding at kite flying, follow. Upon reaching the school, Charlie Brown finally works up the courage to ask the Little Red-Haired Girl why she chose him for a pen pal in spite of his constant failures. The Little Red-Haired Girl replies that she has witnessed his selfless actions over the course of the previous months, and that he has proven to be an honest, caring, good person. After promising to write one another, Charlie Brown watches the bus carrying the Little Red-Haired Girl drive away as he is congratulated by his friends, who have also come to realize what a real friend and success Charlie Brown actually can be. In a separate storyline that intermingles with Charlie Brown's throughout the film, Snoopy finds a typewriter in the school dumpster. Inspired by Linus's model of Manfred von Richthofen's biplane, he attempts to write a novel about the World War I Flying Ace and his fight to take down the infamous Red Baron and rescue the love of his life, Fifi. Aided by his friend Woodstock, Snoopy finds himself acting out his story, leading to unexpected, and often embarrassing, encounters with the other characters. In a post-credits scene, Charlie Brown is convinced by Lucy to once again attempt to kick a football; Lucy assures him that she could never pull the football away from someone as "honest, caring, and good" as Charlie Brown. When she pulls the football away yet again, Lucy nonchalantly comments that another of Charlie Brown's traits that she loves is the fact that he is also "gullible". In a second post-credits scene, Snoopy (in character as the World War I Flying Ace), Fifi, and Woodstock celebrate their victory over a round of root beers with Snoopy's siblings Spike, Andy, Olaf, Belle, and Marbles. Upon hearing a report that the Red Baron has survived their encounter, Snoopy curses the villain and vows revenge. Cast * Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews as Miss Othmar and Mrs. Little Red-Haired Girl. Andrews' trombone provided their "wah-wah" voices, along with the voices for other adult characters in the film.Scott, Mike (October 26, 2015). "Good grief! Is that Trombone Shorty's 'wah-wah' in the new 'Peanuts Movie'?". The Times-Picaynne. * Rebecca Bloom as MarcieTwentieth Century Fox (November 27, 2014)."THE PEANUTS MOVIE Cast Announced" (Press release). Business Wire. * Anastasia Bredikhina as Patty * Francesca Angelucci Capaldi as the Little Red-Haired Girl and FriedaUlanoff, Lance. "From paper to pixels – The incredible, true tale of 'The Peanuts Movie'". Mashable.com. * Kristin Chenoweth as Fifi, Snoopy's love interest. Chenoweth created "a series of conversational-like sounds" to create Fifi's language, using Melendez's Snoopy recordings as a guide, and making his sounds more feminine.Alexander, Bryan (October 28, 2015). "Exclusive: Chenoweth voices Snoopy's love Fi". USA Today. * Alex Garfin as Linus van Pelt * Noah Johnston as Schroeder * Bill Melendez as Snoopy and Woodstock (from archival recordings).http://www.slashfilm.com/new-peanuts-movie/ Woodstock and his bird friends are part of Snoopy's Beagle Scouts,Truitt, Brian (November 18, 2014). "Sneak peek: 'Peanuts' spiced with classic Schulz themes". USA Today. who serve as the World War I Flying Ace's repair crew. * Hadley Belle Miller as Lucy van Pelt * Micah Revelli as Little Kid"Cast". Peanuts Movie * Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown * Venus Omega Schultheis as Peppermint Patty * Mariel Sheets as Sally Brown * Madisyn Shipman as Violet Gray * AJ Teece as Pig-Pen * Marelik "Mar Mar" Walker as Franklin * William "Alex" Wunsch as Shermy Snoopy's siblings also make a cameo during the end credits. Production In 2006, six years after the release of the last original Peanuts strip, as well as the death of creator Charles M. Schulz, his son Craig Schulz came up with an idea for a Peanuts film, which he showed to his screenwriter son Bryan Schulz. "I was happy to show my son," Craig said. "He showed me how to make it bigger—how to blow it up more—and he helped me put in structure." When presenting their film to studios, Craig stipulated that the film remain under Schulz control, saying, "We needed to have absolute quality control and keep it under Dad’s legacy... You can’t bring people in from the outside and expect them to understand Peanuts." On October 9, 2012, it was announced that 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios were developing a 3D computer-animated feature film based on the strip, with Steve Martino directing from the screenplay by Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, and Cornelius Uliano.Fleming Jr, Mike (October 9, 2012). "Charles Schulz's Peanuts in Feature Deal with Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios". Deadline.com. Craig, Bryan, and Uliano are also producing. Craig, claiming there is no one "more protective of the comic strip than myself," chose Martino as director because he showed faithfulness to classics in his adaptation of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!. On the film's plot, Martino said: "Here's where I lean thematically. I want to go through this journey... Charlie Brown is that guy who, in the face of repeated failure, picks himself back up and tries again. That's no small task. I have kids who aspire to be something big and great... a star football player or on Broadway. I think what Charlie Brown is—what I hope to show in this film—is the everyday qualities of perseverance... to pick yourself back up with a positive attitude—that's every bit as heroic... as having a star on the Walk of Fame or being a star on Broadway. That's the story's core. This is a feature film story that has a strong dramatic drive, and takes its core ideas from the strip." Martino and his animators spent over a year looking at Charles Schulz' original drawing style to help translate the "hand-drawn warmth... into the cool pixel-precision of CGI" without the fear of something getting lost in translation, such as "how the dot of an eye conveyed joy or sorrow so efficiently". In addition to receiving the rights to use Bill Melendez's voice for Snoopy and Woodstock, Martino was also able to get the rights to archive music from previous Peanuts specials. Classic locations will be featured, such as Charlie Brown's skating pond, his house, "the wall" and Lucy's psychiatrist booth, each retaining their "eternal look of the strip." Additionally, despite being outdated technology, rotary phones and typewriters will be seen, as well as Lucy's psychiatrist booth still costing a nickel. Adult characters voices are represented by a trombone with a plunger mute, as in previous Peanuts media,Keegan, Rebecca (April 21, 2015). "'Peanuts' movie to bring back Charles M. Schulz's beloved characters". Los Angeles Times. courtesy of New Orleans jazz musician Trombone Shorty. Because of the robust number of existing Peanuts characters, the film doesn't introduce any new characters. On January 8, 2013, Leigh Anne Brodsky became the managing director of Peanuts Worldwide and was set to control all the global deals for the film. In April 2013, Fox announced that the film would be released in 3D. In October 2013, it was announced that Paul Feig would also produce. By April 2015, 75% of the animation was complete, with some footage scheduled to debut at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Release The Peanuts Movie held its premiere in New York City on November 1, 2015,Kimble, Lindsay (November 2, 2015). "Celebs and Their Kids Mingle with Snoopy on the Green Carpet for The Peanuts Movie" and was released on November 6, 2015 in the United States on 3,897 screens."Peanuts and B.O.O Get Release Day Shifts at Fox". MovieWeb. November 7, 2012.D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 9, 2015). "‘Spectre’ $70.4M Opening: Still 2nd Highest 007 Debut Behind ‘Skyfall’, But Not That Far From ‘Quantum Of Solace’ – Monday AM". Deadline.com. The release commemorates the 65th anniversary of the comic strip and the 50th anniversary of the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. The film was originally scheduled for November 25, 2015, and in November 2012 was rescheduled to November 6, 2015. The film was released as Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie in the United Kingdom and Australia in late December 2015. The Australian release date was postponed to January 1, 2016."Release dates". iris.theaureview.com. Home media The Peanuts Movie was released on digital platforms on February 12, 2016 before being released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and 4K Ultra HD a month later on March 8, 2016.The Peanuts Movie (January 12, 2016). "Digital and Blu-ray confirmation". Facebook. Reception Box office In its opening weekend, the film is projected to gross $40–44 million, with some estimates projecting higher. Critical response The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 51 reviews. The site's consensus states: "The Peanuts Movie offers a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic – if relatively unambitious – treat for the adults who grew up with them."On Metacritic, the film has received a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews", making it the highest-rated film to date produced by Blue Sky Studios. The Hollywood Reporter‍ 's Michael Rechtshaffen found the film to be especially praiseworthy, feeling that Charles Schulz would have been proud of this film, though criticized the use of Trainor's song in an otherwise good use of Guaraldi's themes with Beck's score. Peter Debruge of Variety gave similar sentiments, especially praising the animation of the film. Alonso Duralde of TheWrap felt the film made a nice transition to 3D, saying, while the film might not reach "the melancholy of earlier films... it nonetheless respects the importance of failure and disappointment that Schulz always included in his storytelling." He did, however, feel that Peanuts purists would take issue with a few things in the film, such as seeing and hearing so much of the Little Red-Haired Girl, who was always off panel in the comic strips, and Peppermint Patty acknowledging that Snoopy is a dog and not just a kid with a big nose (even though, unbeknownst to him, Marcie told her that Snoopy was a beagle in the latter years of the strip). Pete Hammond from Deadline.comadmitted his trepidation about translating the characters from 2D to 3D, but enjoyed the film overall, only criticizing the amount of fantasy sequences involving Snoopy. Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film three out of four stars, proclaiming the film "is all about simplicity, and what the plot lacks in nuance and complexity is made up for with relatable characters whom people have spent a lifetime watching. The movie is a testament to Charlie Brown's place in pop culture and a showcase for a new generation bound to fall in love with its perennially insecure star." Scott Mendelson from Forbes was more critical of the film, saying there was "nothing objectively wrong with The Peanuts Movie" but as he personally was not a fan of the Peanuts''comic strip, that made him "anti-Charlie Brown", loathing each time he failed in the film. Joe McGovern from ''Entertainment Weekly was also not as receptive, giving the film a grade of C+, criticizing the animation, claiming, "Even if you assume that Schulz always wanted his frozen pond reflecting lustrous light and Snoopy frolicking in a lavish Hayao Miyazaki world, the animation steroids injected into the aesthetic here nonetheless shrivel the great melancholy that's so key to the comic's endurance." Video game A video game based on the film, titled The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure, was released on November 3, 2015 for Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and published by Activision. Gallery ThePeanutsMovieDVD.jpg|DVD cover ThePeanutsMovieBlu-Raycover.jpg|Blu-Ray cover References External links *Official website *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/ The Peanuts Movie] at the Internet Movie Database *''The Peanuts Movie'' at the Big Cartoon DataBase *[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=peanuts2015.htm The Peanuts Movie] at Box Office Mojo *[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/peanuts_2015/ The Peanuts Movie] at Rotten Tomatoes *[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-peanuts-movie The Peanuts Movie] at Metacritic Category:2015 films Category:2010s films Category:20th Century Fox films